Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Science Projects (Page 3)

Build a Model Planetary Lander with micro:bit

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

How do you make a spacecraft land safely on the Moon or another planet like Mars? It probably helps to know how far away the ground is so you can deploy landing gear, activate a parachute, or fire thrusters to help slow down. In this project you will build your own "lander" vehicle with a sensor that can measure distance to the ground, allowing you to program outputs like blinking lights or an audible alarm. Read more

Simulating The Kessler Syndrome: How Satellite Collisions Could Spiral Out of Control

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

What happens when a satellite collision in space leads to a chain reaction of more collisions? This project models The Kessler Syndrome: A scenario in which collisions between satellites in low Earth orbit create increasing amounts of debris, eventually making the region too dangerous for satellites or spacecraft to operate safely. By adjusting key variables like collision rates and debris generation, you can visualize how quickly space around Earth could become overcrowded, and explore… Read more

Design Your Own 3D Printed Optical Illusion

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

The "impossible arrow" is an amazing optical illusion: an arrow that always seems to point to the right, even when you rotate it 180°. If you place the arrow in front of a mirror, however, its reflection points to the left! How does this illusion work? Can you design your own "impossible" shapes? Try this project and find out! Read more

Build a Solar-Tracking Robot

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Light sensors are part of many devices that we use every day. For example, they help your phone know when to automatically brighten or dim the screen based on ambient light levels. They can also be used to help solar panels track the sun, which helps the panels generate more power. Many spacecraft and planetary rovers are solar-powered. In this project you will build and program your own solar-tracking robot. Optionally, you can add solar panels and rechargeable batteries. Can your robot keep… Read more

Build an Arduino Strobe Light for the Stroboscopic Effect

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

The Science Buddies project Build a Levitating Water Fountain with the Stroboscopic Effect shows you how to illuminate a dripping stream of water with a strobe light to make it look like the drops are hovering in mid-air. If you have not already, read the background section of that project and watch the following two videos. Make sure you understand frequency, period, and duty cycle before you proceed with this project. The project has you use a strobe light app on your phone. The advantage… Read more

Make Soft Robotic Skin

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

When you think about robots, do you think of something made from metal? What if robots could have stretchy, flexible skin just like humans? How would they detect when someone tapped them on the shoulder or something rubbed against their arm? In this project, you will learn how to make artificial robotic skin using flexible rubber with an embedded conductive fabric. You can also connect the artificial skin to a microcontroller and use it to control outputs like LEDs or motors. Read more

What Sensors Are Best for Self-Driving Cars?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Self-driving cars use a variety of sensors to evaluate and navigate their environment. Each type of sensor has advantages and disadvantages. In this project you will evaluate two common types of distance sensor (ultrasonic and infrared) and compare their performance in different scenarios. Read more

A Robot Waiter That Can Carry Drinks

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

Have you ever seen a waiter balance an entire tray of drinks without spilling any? How do they do it? Do you think you could build a robot waiter that can do the same thing? In this project, you will learn how to build a self-balancing robotic tray. You can incorporate the auto-leveling tray into one of our many other robotics projects, like the Bluebot or robotic arm. Read more

Build an Autonomous Arduino Robot with Bump Sensors

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Mechanical switches are common in many machines and robots. They can be used to detect when a button is pushed, when a door is open, or a low-speed collision when two objects bump into each other. Switches can act as "bump sensors" on a simple robot to help it detect when it hits an obstacle. The robot can use this information to navigate around obstacles and avoid getting stuck. Can you build and program a robot that can drive around your house while using bump sensors to avoid obstacles? Read more

Drive a Race Car with Machine Learning

Science Fair Project Idea

Engineering Design Process

How do you design a program that can pilot a self-driving race car? By using machine learning. In this project, you will train your own machine learning model for an autonomous vehicle, the AWS (Amazon Web Services) DeepRacer. You can run your car's machine learning model on a simulated racetrack (Figure 1), or you can purchase a 1/18 scale model vehicle that can race on a physical track (Figure 2 - note: new cars are no longer for sale, but you may be able to purchase a used one on a site like… Read more

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure Science Projects (42 results)

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